Despite being nominated for a staggering nine awards at the 1983 Hong Kong Film Awards, “Nomad” ultimately went home empty-handed. The major nominations included “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” “Best Screenplay,” “Best Cinematography,” and “Best Actor” (Leslie Cheung). “Nomad” is one of the pioneering works that kickstarted the “Hong Kong New Wave,” which began around 1979 and reached its peak in the beginning of the 1980s.
Nomad is screening on Focus Hong Kong
The film follows the tumultuous lives of four Hong Kong youths. Leslie Cheung plays Louis, a shy bourgeois who spends his days listening to recordings of his deceased mother, accompanied by his cousin Kathy (Pat Ha). Their fates intertwine with that of Pong (Kent Tong), whom Kathy ends up falling in love with, and Tomato (Cecilia Yip), Louis' future girlfriend. The film's Chinese title, literally translated as “youth in flames” or “flaming youth,” encapsulates the essence of the work. Patrick Tam exposes the viewer to a series of fragmented glimpses into adolescent life in 1980s Hong Kong. The characters are not deeply explored from an introspective standpoint but rather portrayed as “flames” that burn brightly on celluloid.
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One of the central thematic threads of Nomad revolves around the encounter/clash with the Other, the simmering of blood in the spring of first loves, but above all, the exploration of one's sensory impulses. The protagonists are true embodiments of youthful passions, existential boredom, and ghostly presences of themselves all at once. What strikes the viewer is the contrast between the characters' uncontrollable instinctuality and the moments of perfect lyricism in which the director manages to withdraw them. An example is provided by the sequence in which Louis listens to his mother's voice against the backdrop of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, while his cousin performs a traditional Japanese dance against the Klein blue background of his room. A few minutes later, the girl decides to set the bathtub on fire. Another sequence capable of touching the sublime is the one depicting Kathy and Pong consummating their carnal love on a double-decker bus racing through the night in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong itself – arguably one of the cinematic cities that lends itself most to becoming a character in the narrative – can be seen as a passive protagonist in the events. The metropolis reflects the decay of the four friends' lives, now showcasing the muted colors of its sea, hiding behind the modernity of neon signs. In “Nomad”, Hong Kong is a flame perhaps on the verge of extinguishing: it is completely torn between the cultural heritage of ancient China and the shadow of its imminent political return, between the influences of the so-called “Western” world and the presence of its neighboring Japan. The light of this historical and cultural schizophrenia – a characteristic that contributes to making it so fascinating and tormented – inevitably reverberates in the daily lives of its inhabitants, manifesting in their grotesque conversations and disjointed actions.
The performances of the protagonists are both impenetrable and unpredictable, bringing to mind the acting style of their counterparts in the French and Japanese New Wave movements. Undoubtedly, it is the melancholic face of Leslie Cheung that serves as the focal point and guiding force of the entire cast. Patrick Tam's directorial style, characterized by sudden cuts and camera movements, is perfectly aligned with the frenetic energy that emanates from the film.
However, there are two more contentious points to address. The first concerns the excessive use of an instrumental soundtrack bordering on melodrama. It is so pervasive (and heavy-handed) that it almost renders certain scenes “ridiculous,” which perhaps would have benefited from simple silence. The second critical point relates to the overly forced (and deliberately satirical) representation of the “Japanese enemy,” embodied by Kathy's ex-boyfriend and his experience as a soldier in the Red Army. The climax of this forced portrayal is reached in the questionable final scenes, although Tam remains consistent with the element of madness that runs throughout the narrative.
In conclusion, “Nomad” is a disorderly, chaotic film that may be challenging to fully grasp, but it a perfect representative of the zeitgeist of 1980s Hong Kong and its New Wave movement
